Irish Bishops firm on mixed marriages

GABRIEL FALLON'S DUBLIN DIARY
"THERE arc, 11,,wcver. religious principles at stake which neither Popes nor Bishops can change. This is why the regulations emphasise that the Catholic party in u mixed marriage must do all in his power to ensure the Catholic baptism and upbringing of all the children of the marriage. At the Synod of 1967 the Bishops were emphatic that this was a priori* of divine law.
WITH these words the members of the Irish Hierarchy at their recent meeting reached the heart of their ruling on the subject of mixed
mai tiage: A decision which will hring little or no comfort to out separated brethren. They also revealed the fact that discussions arc in progress between the Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Rev. Dr. McQuaid, and 'I rinity College, Onblin, concerning the appointment to that 'institution of a Catholic chaplain, whose duty it will he to minister to its 1.750 Catholic students.
Other matters decided upon included the setting up of a council of social welfare. a professional body which in the words of the Bishop of Kerry. the Most Rev. Dr. Casey, "would be able to give advice to the Bishops. The duty of the Church is to create a Christian sensitivity towards the human needs of mankind, and the role of this council is to ensure that resources will be used in the best possible way to fill these needs." .
The formation of a small commission to study Atheism was also announced as well as the preparation of a series of catechetical text-books "which would he related to the Irish situation" for usc in secondary ,ehools. The Hierarchy also Announced that there will be a national collection for the
Emigrant Apostolate next March, and that December 6 has been appointed as a National Day of Prayer for Itinerants.
Harassment
yris to be hoped that by that
time the 100-man Garda force will no longer find it necessary to protect the unfor tunate Mrs. Annie Furey from her stone-throwing Christian neighbours attempting to storm her two-storey home at Fursey Road, in Galway's Shantalla "I don't want to go back on the road," she said, "all I want to do is to live in peace with my neighbours." But her neighbours had other views on this matter and expressed them forcibly by breaking windows, attempting to usc petrol bombs, and man-handling R.T.E.'s television team in an effort to prevent their stormtrooper tactics from being seen by other than local eyes.
The only peace allowed Mrs. Furey was on Sunday morning when the rioting protesters were at Mass asking God to forgive them their trespasses since they had not the slightest intention of forgiving this onetime itinerant from trespassing on them.
While the Shantalla incidents were taking place the Rev. Denis Murphy, 0.P., was telling 10,000 pilgrims at Knock Shrine, Co. Mayo, that the younger generation was not ready to accept to the full the profession of faith and religious aspirations of those about them.
"Injustice, the spectre of the hungry millions." he said,
"sharp practices even in high places — all give youth the hint that the values of our society, for all its profession of belief, are somehow a sham and hypocritical." Many of the young and the not-so-young would agree with him.
'State of Chassis'
WITH the marathon bank strike drawing painfully to its close, the too-long-delayed Government measures to deal with spiralling wages and prices, the revelations of the arms trial, the growing opposition to entry into the Common Market, and the recent foolish and tragic attempt to dynamite a military barracks in Dublin, is it any wonder that there is a lack of interest in
what may be happening in the North?
We, no less than our Six County brethren, may yet merit the description of being citizens of a "State o' Chassis." Indeed, my Dubliner hastens to assure me that "it's stickln' outa mile we're gettin' ready for the big blow up!" He may well be right.
Minis and Maxis
HOWEVER. there's always fun for those with the urge to find it. Hardly had the Christian Brothers enforced their ruling on the length of
their students' hair, than the
"authorities" governing St. Mary's College of Catering and Domestic Science in Dublin's Cathal Brugha Street decided to enter the rag trade and promulgate views on the wearing of "minis," "maxis
and "trouser suits" by the students attending the college.
As is customary, the student,3 were not consulted on the matter. The inevitable result issued in discussions as to whether it would be proper to attend an apologetics class in a "mini" or a "maxi." Could a cookery session be coped with in a "trouser suit"'? 1 understand that the official answer to this one was in the negative "on hygienic grounds''i How ludicrous can we become?
Meanwhile (arid this is by no means funny) recent raids by Dublin's Drug Squad have led the authorities to believe that quantities of the hallucinogenic drug L.S.D. are being manufactured illegally in the city. It appears that any wellequipped laboratory can be used for the production of I..S.D. and the police suspect that such a laboratory in the city centre is being so used.
Some of our young addicts agree that the L.S.D. at nresent circulating in the city is by no means up to standard. They complain of severe sickness and dizziness after using the
locally manufactured article. If the situation were not so .tragic one would be inclined to sum it up as another set-back for our "Buy Irish" campaign.
Sisters' symposium
FOR a number of years now the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion have lived a secluded life at Ballinter, near Navan, in an old-world house by the site of that lovely and storied river, the Boyne. One is constantly surprised in this island of saints and scholars at the number of people who are seemingly unaware of the existence of these Sisters not to mention the purpose of their mission.
On Sunday next the Sisters will entertain a gathering of Jewish and Christian friends at a symposium in which the Catholic and Jewish view of "The Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to NonChristian Religions" . . . five years after . . will be heard. The speakers will include that distinguished scholar Dr. J.
Weingreen of the School of
Hell, ew and Semitic Lan
guages, Trinity College. and Sister Mary Kelly, O.L.S. of the Centre for Biblical and Jewish Studies. London. The chairman is the Revd. D. O'Callaghan of Maynooth College.
While Ireland could not be described by any means as a home of anti-semitism (didn't Dublin have a Jewish Lord Mayor much to the discomfiture of our U.S. Catholic cousins?) there are nevertheless little seed-beds of ignorance to be found here and there in which this virulent disease sprouts. The work of the Sisters should do much to bring us to a realisation of the links which bind Church to Synagogue.